Continuing Legal Education (CLE)/Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements and obligations for legal professionals vary in each Canadian province. Please refer to the information and respective law society websites below for full details.

• Quebec - Lawyers are subject to mandatory continuing legal education requirements and are obliged to complete at least 30 hours of legal training which must be approved by the Comité during the compliance period of two years (April 1, 2009 – March 31, 2011). The Quebec Bar provides full details on all approved seminars and training activities.

      For further information, please visit the Quebec Bar website. 

• Ontario - The CPD requirements come into effect in Ontario on January 1, 2011. Lawyers and paralegals are required to complete a total of 12 hours of CPD annually, three hours on topics pertaining to ethics, professionalism and/or practice management that are accredited by the law society and nine hours of which can be fulfilled in a variety of ways (attending seminars on legal topics, mentoring lawyers and students, teaching, and writing and editing books) that do not have to be accredited by the law society. For further information on The Law Society of Upper Canada's eligible educational activities, please click here. To gain a better understanding of the CPD requirements, please click here.

      For further information, please visit The Law Society of Upper Canada website.

• Alberta – The mandatory CPD program commenced in 2009. Each lawyer must create and declare to The Law Society of Alberta a CPD plan by March 15 of each year. Lawyers are responsible for developing and monitoring their individual CPD plans. There is no minimum course credit or course hours.

      For further information, please visit The Law Society of Alberta website.

• British Columbia – The CPD reporting requirement is based on the calendar year, commencing January 1. Lawyers must complete at least 12 hours of CPD in accredited educational activities each year, including no less than two hours on topics pertaining to any combination of professional responsibility and ethics, client care and relations, and practice management.

      For further information, please visit The Law Society of British Columbia website.